The Path to Love
by ERiCA x0x
Summary: It's the Marauder's 7th year at Hogwarts. Loves will bloom and tragedies will occur. Will it be enough for James to finaly win Lily over? Or will it take more for Lily to see that she really does love James? LEJP , SBOC , RLOC Read and Review
1. Platform 9¾

**Disclaimer : If I was JK Rowling I would own everything. But I'm not... So I don't. But I do own the plot and the characters you don't recognise... meaning the ones I made up. **

Chapter 1 : Platform 9¾

It was a beautiful sunny September 1st at Kings Cross Station. At 16, Lily Evans was getting ready to start her fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Her parents helped her load her things onto a cart and walked her into the station. Being Muggles, they didn't know where to go. So they let Lily walk to the barrier herself. They kissed her good-bye and drove away.

Lily entered the station and was trying her best to maneuver through the crowds with her trunk and owl cage on a cart, her red hair, which reached a little past her shoulders, was neatly in place with a gold headband. She was about to walk through the barrier when she heard a voice calling her name.

"Evans!" said the voice. Lily turned around to see a boy with messy, raven black hair and glasses over his stunning hazel-brown eyes. This boy was none other than James Potter walking briskly towards her with his trunk in tow. He ran his fingers through his hair and mussed it up. "Hey." he said, catching his breath, looking straight into her emerald green eyes. "Shall we?" Lilly rolled her eyes and walked through the barrier. James smiled after her, watching the last bit of her cross through the barrier.

Lily found herself on Platform 9¾ with the big, red Hogwarts express standing there in all its glory. Lilly had stopped right in front of the barrier, so when James came through, he ran right into her.

"Hey! Watch where your standing, Evans!" said a semi-annoyed James. Lily gave him a reproachful look and attempted to put her trunk back on the cart. "Here. Let me help you." James said as he grabbed the other side of her trunk. "One… two… THREE…" And they lifted the trunk back onto the cart.

"Thanks." Lily mumbled.

"No problem." James said. He looked around the platform, hoping to catch a glimpse of one of his friends. Finally, he saw his best friend, Sirius Black. "Padfoot!" he yelled across the station. "See ya later, Evans." Lily watched James walk over to Sirius and started to make her way over to the train.

One of the attendants helped her load her trunk onto the train. "Thanks." she said. She dragged her trunk to an empty compartment and attempted to lift it into one of the over head racks.

"Need my help _again_, Evans?" James had appeared at the door of her compartment along with Sirius, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. James threw her a quick smile. Lily was not fast to return it. "Padfoot, help me with this, will ya?" Sirius grabbed the other handle on her trunk and together James and Sirius lifted her trunk into the rack.

"There ya go, Lily." said Sirius, his jet black hair falling slightly into his light grey eyes.

"Thanks." she said with a slight smile. He smiled back. Lily noticed that he had a strong jaw and very handsome features. She sat herself comfortably into one of the seats and looked out the window. She watched all the little first years leaning out the windows to say their final good-byes to their teary-eyed parents. She heard the compartment door opening and turned to see Ava Fields, Lana Chesterton and Delia Lipton enter the compartment.

"Hey Lily!" said Ava. "Wow… Don't rush to help us with our trunks!" she said with a smile. Ava had pin-straight light blonde hair, which was a little longer than Lily's, that was pulled into a neat half-up half-down ponytail. She had brilliant light aquamarine eyes that always looked a little mischievous. Lily smiled back and helped Ava, Delia and Lana lift their trunks into the racks and they sat back into their seats. Lana took the window seat across from Lily and Ava sat next to Lana and Delia sat next to Lily. Lana had wavy, honey brown hair that just brushed the tops of her shoulders. She had side bangs which accentuated her brilliant light gold-brown eyes. But out of the four friends, Delia was by far the prettiest. Even they agreed so. Delia had stunning light blue-grey eyes and long straight, jet black hair. She was not very tall but she was very slender. Even James admitted that he had liked her.

"So, how has your summer been, Lily." Lana asked.

"Eh… Can't complain Lana, what bout you Ava?" asked Lily.

"Same old, same old… I got into that Quidditch program in July so I went to that. It was fun. The kids there were mostly guys… And mostly Irish… _And_ mostly very good looking!" Ava said with a little laugh. Lily and Lana laughed along.

"Wow… I can only imagine a whole bunch of hot Irish guys together in one place!" said Lana, looking dreamily out the window.

"Speaking of Quidditch…" Delia said. "What's up with you and Potter, Lil?"

"What?" Lily said, slightly offended. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well I'm just asking." Delia said. "Are you going out or anything?"

"I can't believe you even bothered asking." Lily said, looking out the window.

"Everyone knows he likes you, Lil." said Lana.

"Yea… only, like, the whole school…" added Ava.

"Yea, I noticed." Lily said. She looked out the compartment door window and looked into the compartment across the hall. James and his friends were sitting there laughing at something. Lily couldn't help but look at James. She then noticed his eyes looking into hers and she quickly looked away.

James looked back over at Lily, ruffling his hair, to see if she was looking again, but she wasn't, but rather staring out of her window at the passing fields. Sirius noticed James staring absentmindedly at Lily.

"So… How are things with you and Evans?" he asked.

"What?" James asked, shaking his head and looking back at his friend sitting across from him. "Nothing… Nothing…" he said in a slightly disappointed tone. Sirius noticed this.

"Ask her out again if you're really that into her."

"Why? And have her say 'No' and not talk to me for another month? I don't think so." James retorted.

"Do as you wish, mate." Sirius said, placing his feet up in the empty seat next to him. Remus looked up from his book and shook his head and rolled his light blue eyes. "What are you reading now, Moony?" he asked, trying to coax Remus out of his book.

"I was reading our Transfiguration textbook, but now I have to leave and get going with my Prefect duties. I'll see you guys at the feast." Remus said, closing his book and putting it in his bag. His short dirty blonde hair was cut slightly shorter than James and Sirius'. He ran a hand through it and walked out of the compartment.

"Bye Moony…" said Sirius. He took a quick glance into Lily's compartment and noticed Ava looking straight at him, her eyes shining in the sunset. She gave him a smile and he smiled back. She looked away, blushing a shade of light pink. She started whispering something to Lana.

"Sirius just smiled at me…" Ava said, still blushing.

"Oooh! Someone's got a crush on the lovely, stunningly handsome Sirius Black, maybe?" Delia asked now looking at Ava.

"Most definitely." said Lana, smiling. Lana then took a glance over. She noticed that Remus and James were exiting the compartment. Remus gave her a slight wink and continued walking down the hall. She sighed. No one knew that she secretly liked Remus. She thought it would upset Lily since both of her friends fancied two of the Marauder's. So, Lana kept this little bit of information to herself.

"I have to go, too. You know… Head Girl duties. I'll see you later." Lily said. She left the compartment and started to head for the Prefect's compartment.

"Bye." said Ava and Lana. Ava had stretched herself out across a few seats, leaning her back against the wall the compartment door was on. She was looking up at the ceiling, thinking about something. Lana was still looking out the compartment door window. The sky had become dark and the lanterns were on, but a sliver of sun still existed on the horizon.

As Lily made her way down the corridor, she wondered what would happen if they each went out with one of the Marauder's. She pictured Ava with Sirius, not only because Ava was one of the most outgoing people she'd ever met, just that their complete personalities seemed to compliment each other. Ava was the one of the three that always seemed to get herself into trouble and she was a phenomenal Quidditch player. Not only that, Ava and Sirius were on the House Team together, both chasers. Lily told Ava that the only reason she had been going to the Quidditch games was to see her play, but Ava believed that she wasn't the only one Lily was there to see. Lana would definitely be with Remus. Lana spent a lot of her time in the library, as did Remus. They were both kind and shy. Not to mention that they both always had their face buried into a book of some sort. Delia, well she wouldn't go out with Peter, so maybe James? "_James' yours you idiot." "Right, right… No wait… WHAT? James is not mine!" "I'm you conscience… I beg to differ."_ She tried not to think of this anymore.

After Lily left, Ava and Lana engrossed themselves in a game of Exploding Snap. Delia was running her fingers through her hair, sucking on a lollypop while she was reading "Hogwarts: A History". Twenty minutes or so passed by before anyone entered the compartment. It was Remus.

"Hey Lupin." said Lana, slightly blushing.

"You should start getting your robes on. We're almost at school." he said looking from one to the next, glancing a little longer at Lana.

"Thanks, Remus." said Ava.

Ava and Delia looked suspiciously at Lana. They didn't say anything because the look on Lana's face said it all. It was an 'if-you-say-anything-to-Lily-I-swear-I-will-kill-you' look.

The train started to slow down. "I'll get the guys to help us with our trunks." said Delia.

"If you must." Lily replied, as she soon appeared back into the compartment.

Delia walked across the hall to the boys' compartment. She knocked, and then opened the door. "Do you guys think you could help us with our trunks?" she said with a slight smile.

"I guess we could do that." Sirius said smiling at her.

With the help of the boys, mostly James and Sirius, all the trunks were taken down from the racks and carried out of the compartment. They got off the train and walked towards the horseless carriages.

**A/N : Ok... Here's the first chapter... again. I was having problems with the first chapter so I deleted the story... So here's the new, revamped chapter.The only major changes I made were character names, so it's basically the same. Ok... This is my first fanfic and I'm actually pretty happy with how this chapter came out. Some of the other chapters are prewritten so once I know how you guys like this one, I'll post some more. I PROMISE that I will update as much as school, sports and my writing muse allows. For now, I have enough ideas to last a few chapters. So yea... Read and Review please! Advice and stuff is greatly appreciated! Thanks! --Erica**


	2. Paintings and Passages

**Disclaimer : You know that if I was JK Rowling I wouldn't be posting fan fic, but rather putting it in a book... So I don't own any of her stuff but I own all of mine **

Chapter 2 : Paintings and Passages

By the time Lily got to the carriages, every seat had been taken… Except the one next to James. Lily reluctantly sat down in the seat and the carriage started to move. Lily was sitting next to James and on James' other side sat Lana and squeezed in between Lana and the side of the carriage was Delia. Across from them, Ava was sitting next to Sirius and on Sirius' other side was Remus. Then Lily noticed it.

"Guys? Where's Peter?" Lily asked.

"Oh… He said he'd grab a carriage with some girl he met. I think her name was Matilda… Or was it Martha? Well, it was something like that. She came into the compartment looking for a rat and Peter offered to help her look for it.

"Oh." said Lily. She was looking out the window at the darkness, which was punctured by the welcoming castle looming ahead. "Nearly there."

"Yup." said Ava looking out her window too. "Do you guys know what kind of NEWT classes you're going to take?"

"I'm definitely taking potions." said Lily.

"Well we all knew that. After all, you are Sluggy's favorite." said James. Everyone in the carriage laughed. Lily started to blush a light shade of pink.

"Well, what are _you_ going to take, Potter?" Lily asked.

"Probably DADA, Potions, and some others. I can't really remember what they are, but I need them to get into the Auror Academy." he said, happy with his choices.

"That's it? Don't you want to take Muggle Studies or Ancient Runes?" Lily asked surprised.

"Nope. That's it." The carriage slowed down to a stop. "I guess it's time to get out, then." James said. He got out of the carriage. "Here. Let me help you, Evans." he said as he put his arm out to help her.

"I'm perfectly able at getting down myself, thank you." Lily replied. And with that, she managed to step on the hem of her robes and would have fallen flat on her face if James hadn't been there to catch her. "Thanks." she muttered as she started to walk towards the castle.

"No problem." said James watching her walk away.

"Smooth move, Prongs." said Sirius.

James gave a little smile and started walking towards the castle. They entered through to the Great Hall where it looked as magnificent as ever. The ceiling had been bewitched to represent the sky. So if you looked up, you could see a dark navy sky specked with white stars.

James, Sirius and Remus sat down at the table, just a little ways down from Lily, Ava, Delia and Lana. They continued to look around the table. "Where did Peter get off to?" asked Sirius.

"He's right over there." said Remus. "Look."

And sure enough, there just a little bit farther down sat Peter with Matilda Flutes. She was not very pretty and had big glasses that took up the whole top of her face. The two of them sat together engrossed in conversation.

"Wow… Peter's got the girl before I've got mine." said James. Sirius and Remus laughed.

Professor McGonagall brought the first years in single file. They all looked terrified. The sorting hat sang its song and then the sorting began with "Arden, Lucretia" who was sorted into Slytherin and went all the way down to "Zenith, Henry" who became a Hufflepuff.

Professor Dumbledore stood up and addressed the students. "I shall not keep you from enjoying this magnificent feast, so I will keep my announcements short and too the point. Mr. Posey, the caretaker, would like me to remind you that no student is allowed to enter the Forbidden Forest. Also, students are to check the list of forbidden joke items that is located in Mr. Posey's office." Dumbledore looked around at the students. "With out further ado, dig in." As he waved his arms across the Great Hall, the platters filled themselves with all sorts of magnificent foods.

"Excellent. I'm starving." Sirius said as he reached out to load up his plate with food.

They all ate until they couldn't eat anymore. Dumbledore stood up once again from the Headmaster's seat at the Staff Table. He waved his hands again and all the food disappeared. "Now that you all have eaten your fill, it is time for you to be heading off to sleep so you can enjoy your first day of classes. Good night to all. Prefects and Head Boy and Girl, would you please help to lead the first years to their dormitories?"

James watched as Remus and Lily started calling to the first years to follow them. "Shall we take that lovely short cut?" Sirius asked James as they left the Great Hall.

"Sounds like a plan." James replied. They took off in the other direction and started walking along the fourth floor corridor. They stopped in front of the painting of a woman in a stunning red dress. She appeared young and youthful. She was very pretty with her long blonde hair tied up in an elegant knot on top of her head with stray curls falling out around her face and in the back. Her blue eyes stared intently at the two boys.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Good evening, Miss Holly. It's a pleasure to see you again." said James.

"You look stunning, might I add." chimed in Sirius.

"Why thank you. And I suppose you would like me to move aside for you to pass?" she asked, with a smile.

"That would be nice, ma'am." Sirius said in his best innocent voice.

"Of course." she said. She swung open and behind the painting there stood a passage that took them straight to the corridor outside the Gryffindor common room.

"Thank you, Miss Holly." said James as she swung shut behind them.

"Anytime, boys."

James and Sirius walked casually out the other side of the passage way. They knocked on the back of the portrait. "Ms. Vivian." James said sweetly.

"Good to see you two again." said Vivian.

"Is the corridor clear?" Sirius asked, trying to listen through the painting.

"Yes, I believe it is."

"Can you let us through?"

"Naturally." she said as she took a final glance up and down the corridor. Then she opened up and James and Sirius walked out from behind, checking the corridor also.

"Thank you, Ms. Viv." James said with a slight bow.

"Yes, thank you Ms. Viv." Sirius added.

"No worries." replied Vivian.

James and Sirius walked across the corridor towards the painting of the Fat Lady.

"James!" said Sirius. "We don't know the password!"

"That's right! We forgot to ask Moony!" James said exasperatedly. He looked up at the portrait of the Fat Lady. "Do you think you could let us in? Just this once?"

"I'm sorry Mr. Potter. I don't believe I can." said the Fat Lady.

"Oh well. That's alright. We'll just wait for the first years to come." Sirius said, sitting himself down on the floor next to the portrait hole.

"Brilliant idea, Sirius." James said, sarcastically.

They only had to wait a few minutes before Remus and Lilly came with all the first years in tow.

"How did you two get up here so fast?" asked Lily.

"We… uh… we… we… jogged." Sirius finally stammered.

"You… jogged…" Lily said, sounding a bit suspicious. Remus put his hand over his face and shook his head.

"Yea… jogged." said James giving Sirius a 'that-was-a-stupid-idea' look.

"Right…" Lily said. She then turned to the Fat Lady, but still keeping her eyes on James and Sirius. "Good evening, ma'am." Lily said.

"Good evening, Miss Evans. I believe you would have the password, unlike these two." she said as she nodded towards James and Sirius.

"I do." said Lily, matter-of-factly. "Gillyweed."

"Very good. You may enter."

"Thank you." said Lily with a smile. "Come on, first years, this way." She led them all into the common room.

James and Sirius walked up to their dormitories and flopped down onto their beds.

"Jogging! You're a Marauder and the best excuse you could think of was jogging!" James said, a little annoyed. "I thought we taught you better than that." he said.

"Well, I wasn't expecting her to ask that!" said Sirius.

"Right." James said looking over at the bed next to him. Moments later, they were joined by Remus.

"Jogging! What was that!" Remus asked.

"I don't know!" said Sirius, now irritated. He rolled over onto his stomach. Remus sat down on the bed on the other side of Sirius. He looked over at Peter's bed.

"Have either of you seen Peter since dinner?" Remus asked.

"Can't say I have, mate." Sirius said.

"He's probably still with that Matilda girl." said James.

"This is really odd of Peter. He usually never talks to girls." said Remus.

"Definitely. Well, I think I shall let the party animal party so that I can stay awake in class tomorrow." said Sirius.

"Good idea." said James. "Say, I think that's the best idea you've had all day, mate. Congratulations!" he said sarcastically.

Sirius shot James an annoyed look and changed into his pajamas. James and Remus did the same and they all went to sleep.

**A/N : So theres Chapter 2... I happen to like this one. I thought it was funny that they were on like first name basis' with the paintings. So yea... reviews are always greatly appreciated and I'll post the next chapter tomorrow. **


	3. The Bogart

**Disclaimer : I own a little more than diddlysquat, so the rest is JK's.**

Chapter 3 : The Bogart

In the morning, the three woke up to find Peter, sleeping soundly in his bed.

"Should we wake him?" asked Remus.

"Guess we should." said James. He walked over to Peter's bed. "Wormtail… Hey…" he said shaking his friend. "C'mon… we have to go down to breakfast. We have classes today."

"Five more minutes." Peter replied.

"No… Now." James said, as Sirius walked over to Peter's bed and grabbed the end of his comforter. He yanked it off the sleeping Peter and he woke up.

"Hey! That wasn't fair!" Peter retorted.

"Life isn't fair, mate, so get up." Sirius said.

They started walking down to the common room, fixing their robes as they went.

"Hey! Hey guys! Wait up!" Peter said, hustling down the stairs. He was so flustered, he almost tripped on the last one.

"Alright, alright. Calm down." said Remus as he turned around to see Peter trip over the rug on the floor.

"Good morning, boys." said a familiar voice coming from the girls dormitories. Ava, Lana, Delia and Lily were making their way down the stairs into the common room. "You're up bright and early." said Ava.

"Don't want to miss the first day of classes." said Sirius sarcastically. Ava laughed and Sirius smiled.

"Well, lets go then." said Lily as she walked towards the portrait hole.

"Chill, Lily. We still have twenty minutes before we get out programs." said James.

They left the common room, but took their time walking down to the Great Hall. They had just sat down when the owls came swooping in with mail for them. No one had sent any letters to them so they started helping themselves to bacon and eggs of the gigantic platters.

Professor McGonagall soon came around to give them their schedules.

"I see you're taking Ancient Runes, Muggle Studies and Arithmancy, Miss Evans." she said as she made her way down the Gryffindor table.

"That's correct, Professor." Lily replied cheerfully.

"Well, here you go." McGonagall said as she tapped Lily's time table. "And next we have Miss Fields. No extra classes this year?"

"No, Professor." said Ava, sounding a little tired.

"Suit yourself." said McGonagall, tapping Ava's time table. "And I see you have gone along the same lines as Miss Fields, Mr. Potter and Mr. Black."

"That's correct, Professor." said James and Sirius in unison, imitating Lily's response.

"Alright then. Can't expect too much from the three of you." she said smiling, looking from Ava to James and then to Sirius and handing them each a program in turn. "Ahh, Mr. Lupin. I see you, Miss Lipton and Miss Chesterton have each decided to take Muggle Studies and Ancient Runes. Very well. Here are your time tables." she said, tapping three pieces of parchment and handing one to each of them. "Where has Mr. Pettigrew gotten off to?" she asked eying James, Sirius and Remus.

"No idea, Professor." said Remus.

"Very well. Off you go." she said as she shooed them away with her hand. "Oh, and Potter?"

"Yes, Professor?" said James.

"Congratulations on Quidditch Captain. I hope you can pull out another victory for us in the House Cup this year. I have grown accustomed to having that trophy in my office." she said with a smile.

"Thank you, Professor. I'll try my best." replied James. They started to walk towards the giant doors.

"I didn't know you made captain! Why didn't you tell us?" Sirius asked.

"I dunno. I guess it slipped my mind." James said.

"That's a pretty big slip." said Ava.

"What does everyone have first?" asked Lily, trying desperately to change the subject away from Quidditch.

"Herbology." replied Ava.

"Same." said James.

"As do I." chimed in Remus.

"Me too." said Sirius and Lana at the same time.

"Ditto." said Delia.

"Well, I guess we're all going out to the greenhouses." Lily replied. "Who do we have it with?" she asked, looking down at her schedule.

"Looks like Ravenclaw." said Lana.

"Well, lets go." said Ava.

They all walked out into the cool September morning and made their way to the greenhouses. They went through their Herbology lessons with Professor Sprout and the Ravenclaws and then they parted their separate ways. Remus, Lana, Delia and Lily went to Ancient Runes and Ava, James and Sirius made their way to Transfiguration.

"Come on. Let's hurry up. McGonagall will kill us if we're late on the first day!" said James, speeding up.

They made it just in time. They took the only seats available: the ones in the front row. Ava sat down in between James and Sirius.

"How nice of you to join us." Professor McGonagall said.

"Sorry, Professor." the three said in unison.

"Quite alright. Now onto the lesson. Today you will be reviewing how to vanish objects. I will give you each a rabbit and you must vanish it and then bring it back, understood?" she finished as a mumble of "Yes, Professor." went around the room. "Good. Miss Jacobs would you please hand everyone a rabbit?"

"Yes, Professor." Lynne Jacobs said. She walked around the room and gave each person a rabbit. When she reached Sirius, she stopped for a second and sent him a smile. "Hi, Sirius."

"Hey Lynne." Sirius replied sending back a kind smile. She finished giving out the rabbits to everyone. "Still got the charm on the ladies." said Sirius, looking rather pleased with himself. Ava and James looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

"Now I want you to practice with the incantation. I'm sure you're all familiar with it so let's continue on." she finished. The room was filled with no sound, since the seventh years, though there weren't many of them in this class to begin with, had already mastered nonverbal spells. There were a few minutes until the bell rang. Professor McGonagall stopped them. "Miss Jacobs, would you kindly collect the rabbits… or what's left of them…" as she looked over to the boy sitting next to James whose rabbit was missing an ear and its powder puff tail. "I see we have to work on some reviewing before we go any further. Correct, Mr. Shu?"

"Yes, Professor." said the boy. He had jet black hair and dark brown eyes. He was very short compared to James. James knew him well. He was a Hufflepuff beater.

"See you later, Shu." said James said as he left the classroom.

"Later, Potter." Lee said half-heartedly as he packed up his things.

"Where to?" Ava asked, looking at her time table.

"Defense Against the Dark Arts." said James.

"Nice." said Sirius.

They walked together to the DADA classroom. To much dismay, they were taking it with Slytherins.

"The perfect way to destroy a great class." said Delia as she, Lily, Lana and Remus joined them.

"Very true…" Remus replied.

Professor Garadelli entered the classroom. She was by far one of the better looking of the staff. She was young, no older than 23 or 24. She had long chocolate brown hair which was tied up in a neat and elegant bun. Her honey brown eyes scanned over the class.

"Good morning, guys." she said walking briskly to her desk and placing her books on it.

"Good morning Professor Garadelli." the class replied.

"I know it's a bit trivial, but I thought that as a review, we'd go over some simple things. So, I've decided to bring in a bogart."

"Ehh… Could have been worse." whispered Sirius.

"I'm going to need two people to help me bring it in. It's in a trunk in the hall. Do I have any volunteers?" After she finished that last sentence, almost half the boys in the class raised their hands eagerly. All the girls just stared at them and rolled their eyes with looks of disgust on their face.

"How about Mr. Black and Mr. Trent?" she said. The rest of the boys all looked thoroughly disappointed. Blaise Trent walked up to the front of the classroom from the back where he was seated with Malcolm Peterson, Oliver Devon, and Valentina Burry. Sirius walked down the aisle from his seat, giving Blaise a dirty look as he went. Together the two lifted the trunk to the middle of the classroom. "Thank you, boys." she said. "Now, everyone get up from their seats and take their wands out." Everyone stood up and with a wave of her wand, Professor Garadelli vanished all the desks. "Right, then. Who wants to go first?" Many eager hands, mostly boys again, went into the air. "Hmm… How about Mr. Potter?" she said looking at James.

"Sure." he said taking out his wand.

"Do you remember the incantation for the spell?"

"Yes, ma'am." replied James.

"Alright. Wand out. And go." she said as she opened the trunk. What came out made James' start to back up a little bit. It was a gigantic snake.

"R-r-r-edikulus!" James managed to stammer. It didn't really flinch.

"Stronger, Potter!" said Garadelli.

"Redikulus!" The snake's sharp venomous teeth turned to rubber and it shrunk to the size of a garden snake.

"Very good, Mr. Potter. What about Miss Evans next?" Lily nodded and walked in front of the trunk, her wand held out in front of her. "Ready? Now!" she said as she opened the trunk. Out popped McGonagall, looking very grim.

"I'm sorry, Miss Evans, but you received all D's on you NEWTs" Lily looked mortified.

"R-r-r-r…" but that's all she managed to get out.

"Come on, Miss Evans! Try harder!"

"R-r-r-r-edikulus!" she managed.

"Again!"

"R-redikulus!" she said.

"APRIL FOOLS!" the McGonagall bogart said. Lily looked very relieved as she stepped next to James.

"How about Miss Burry next?" Valentina walked up, her wand at her side, a smug look spread across her face. Garadelli opened the trunk and out popped a big black dog, similar to Sirius' anamagi form. The smug look was soon replaced with a look of sheer terror.

"Ha! She's scared of me!" whispered Sirius to James, because it did strike a resemblance to Sirius.

Valentina started shaking. "Re-re-red…" was all she could stammer.

"Come now, Miss Burry! The grim is nothing! Say it like you mean it." No one had ever seen Valentina this scared in her life. Usually, she was with Blaise and she wouldn't be harmed or have anything to worry about, but there was no one there to hide behind.

"Re-re-redikulus!" she said pointing her wand at the grim.

"Again!"

"R-redikulus!" It soon turned into a cute little black puppy.

"Very good!" Garadelli said. A few more people after Valentina went, the bell rang and everyone left.

The rest of the day went by pretty quickly. Lunch was exceptionally fast. Finally, their last class of the day ended. They all walked back to the common room laughing and talking.

"Ahh… First day of school is finished." said Ava as she threw her bag down next to a big comfy chair and plopped down into it, untying her tie and draping it around her neck. "You guys wanna go hang out side by the lake?" she asked wrapping a strand of hair around her finger.

"Definitely." said James as he walked towards the boy's dormitories. "Let me just go put my bag away."

"Yea, I'll come with you guys too." Sirius added, following James up the stairs.

"Count me in." Delia said. She ran up into the girls dorm and put her bag at the foot of her bed. She ran back down and waited at the portrait hole.

"I can't believe you guys are going to relax already! Think of all the homework you have!" Lily protested.

"I can't believe you're even thinking about homework!" said Delia.

"I can." added Sirius. Lily shot him an annoyed glare.

"I think Lily's right guys. If you don't start it now you'll never be done." said Lupin.

"Ok… So, how about you and Lily do homework while the rest of us go out? Good? Good. Now let's go!" said James. The five of them left the common room, Lily and Remus spreading their work out all about the chairs and floor.

**A/N : Here's Chapter 3... It was hard thinking of things for people to be afraid of for the bogart without making it sound really cheezy... But yea. I happen to like the next chapter, but you'll have to wait till tomorrow to read it. Review please! **


	4. Friends at the Lake

**Disclaimer : You know... The usual... 90 belongs to the wonderful JK Rowling... Rest belongs to me...**

Chapter 4 : Friends by the Lake

Delia, Ava, Lana, Sirius, and James all walked out of the castle into the pleasant summer weather. They walked over to their favorite tree and sat down. Sirius and James sat with their backs propped up against the tree trunk. Delia was resting her back against Sirius's bent knees, her legs crossed in front of her. Ava was giving her a very subtle jealous glare while lying on her back, her arms under her head. Lana was sitting Indian style in front of them.

"It's so nice out here." Delia said looking out at the lake and up into the sky.

"It is." said James. He stared up to Gryffindor tower where Lily was sitting doing her homework. "It's a shame Lily and Remus decided not to come."

"Definitely." said Ava, sitting up a little to look at Lana.

"Yea." said Delia, also looking at Lana. Lana gave them a shove-it look and stared out into the lake.

"Well, well… Look who it is. It's Snivellus and his little friends." said Sirius.

Severus Snape was walking towards them, closely followed by Narcissia Black and Bellatrix Black, Sirius' cousins, Regalus Black, Sirius' brother and Craig Kentworth.

"Well, if it isn't Potter, Black and their entourage of lady friends." said Snape with an evil grin.

"Shove off, Snivellus." said James.

"And what are you going to do if I don't?" asked Snape, his grin still there.

"Oh, we'll think of something." said Sirius, pulling his wand out from his pants pocket. He had mastered nonverbal spells last year. He thought "Petrificus totalus!" in his head. All of a sudden, Snape stiffened up like a board and keeled over backwards. All of them started laughing, except Snape's friends.

"We'll get you for this, Black." snarled Narcissia.

"Yea, I'd like to see you try, Sissy." said Sirius.

"Just because we're related doesn't mean that I won't hurt you." Narcissia replied.

"That's right, Black." chimed in Narcissia's sister, Bellatrix.

"You keep thinking that, Bella. And I don't even want to hear what you have to say Reg." Sirius said, looking at his brother.

"Oh, I wasn't going to say anything… To you that is. But maybe Mother will have something to say about it." said Regalus, a sneer spreading across his face.

"I'm sure she'll have loads to say about it." said Sirius. "She just loves telling me off."

"Just because you're the odd one out doesn't mean she doesn't love you as much as she loves me." said Regalus. "No, wait… Yes it does." he said with a sneer.

"Great. Now will you shove off?" said Sirius, getting ready to stand up, Delia trying to hold him down, as his grip on his wand tightened.

"Later, Black." said Narcissia. "This isn't over, yet."

"See you later Sissy!" he said in a mock overjoyed tone. Sirius let himself relax against the tree. "I hate my family." he muttered.

"That's why you're living with me, mate." smiled James.

"True." said Sirius, a smile returning to his face.

They sat out under the tree and talked all about how their summers had gone and how they had missed school. The people and not the actual classes, that is. It was starting to get late, so they decided to go in and start some homework before dinner. When they reached the common room, Lily was reading a Muggle book called "Romeo and Juliet" and Remus was writing a letter to someone.

"Nice to see you again." said Lily. "How was the lake?"

"Wonderful." Lana lied. She could see that Sirius didn't want to talk about what had happened between him and his family.

"That's good." Remus muttered, still thoroughly engrossed in his letter.

They all went up to their dormitories and started to work on their homework. About a half hour went by and then it was time for dinner. The seven walked down to the Great Hall and went their separate ways. Lily, Lana, Delia and Ava went to sit at one end with some other girls and Sirius, James and Lupin sat with Peter and Matilda.

"Hey, Peter. Haven't seen you around much." said Remus.

"Yea, well I've been… err… busy." he said.

They all dug into their dinner and soon, it was over. They all went up into the common room. Ava, Delia, Lana, Sirius and James started working on their homework again. Every once in a while, someone would ask a question about the homework and everyone would give their input. It was about midnight before everyone had finished their work for the night.

"G'night." the girls said as they headed up to their dorms.

"Good night, ladies." the boys replied as they headed up to their own dorms.

Once they were safely in their rooms, Ava confronted Delia. "What were you doing?" she said slightly annoyed.

"What do you mean?" Delia said, getting dressed into her pajamas. Lily, who had retreated up to continue their reading was now looking over the top of her book, trying to pretend she wasn't listening. Lana was half way to the bathroom, looked at Lily and started walking a little faster. They could tell that this couldn't end well.

"I mean you and Sirius. You were so flirting with him! You know I fancy him!" Ava said, starting to get a little more annoyed.

"Calm down Ava! We're just friends, that's all. Alright? So, just drop it." said Delia as she put her robes and uniform in the laundry basket.

"I know you better than that, Dee." said Ava. "You fancy Sirius too and just won't admit it!"

"That's the silliest thing I have ever heard!" said Delia, now becoming offended.

"Really? I saw you with him. Acting like he was you boyfriend or something." said Ava, her eyes starting to mist over.

"Ava, would I ever do something like that to you? You're my best friend and I know you fancy him. Meaning that he's off limits. Alright? I know!" said Delia.

Ava was obviously happy with this answer because she didn't press the matter and went to bed.

Lily and Lana looked at each other. The last time Ava had thought that Delia fancied someone that she fancied, they hadn't talked for a few days.

Luckily, in the morning, both acted like the night before hadn't happened.

**A/N : Ok... So here's Chapter 4... I like this one... It's one of my favorites... I would really like to post the rest of the story as it comes but it seems like no one is reading this... So, if anyone want's to continue reading, please respond! I would like to know if people are _actually_ reading this... and like it for that matter... If not, I'll just keep the rest of it to myself... --Erica**


	5. Masking the Truth

Chapter 5 : Masking the Truth

September was flying by fast, even with the incredible amount of homework that they were receiving because of their NEWTs. Lily, being head girl, was helping plan the events for the fall term. The Head Boy, Kevin Jenkins, was helping her arrange the Hogsmade weekends and they were currently planning a Halloween Masquerade Ball.

"So, what is this exactly?" asked Ava as Lily went on to explain the ball.

"You dress up and you wear a mask and you don't know who you were with until the end of the night." she explained.

"Sounds like fun. I just hope that I don't wind up with someone like Snape!" said Delia. There was a long "Eww…" from the three other girls.

"You got that right." said Lana.

"Sounds like fun." said Ava.

The Halloween Ball was, naturally, on Halloween. The morning of the ball, all the girls in Gryffindor tower were running up and down stairs, through dorms carrying things like dresses and shoes and accessories. James, Sirius, Remus and two of the other seventh year Gryffindor's, Jared Leto and Carmine Hobbs were having so much fun watching girls run up and down the stairs and in and out the portrait hole.

"So, what are you wearing tonight?" Sirius asked the guys.

"Dumbledore told us to wear these Muggle things called tuxedos. He got a whole bunch for us to use. They look pretty fancy." said James.

"Tuxedos are a pain in the bum, mate." said Carmine. "My dad's a Muggle. When him and my mum go out to their dinner parties in London, Dad always wears a tuxedo. Takes him half the day just to put everything together."

"So, should we be worried?" asked Sirius.

"Nah. You should be fine. You can use magic." said Carmine.

"I knew magic was good for something." said Jared.

"Definitely." said James. Just then, Ava came running down the stairs talking to herself.

"Got to find, Millie. I need her to use that spell to iron my dress. I can never remember it. Got to find Hannah. She's got my mask. Got to…"

They weren't sure what else she had to do because she walked out of the common room. Then Lily came running down.

"Did Ava just walk by?" she asked.

"Just walked out." said Jared.

"Thanks." She hurried out of the common room, apparently looking for Ava.

"Thank God I'm not a girl." said Carmine.

"Cheers to that, mate." said Sirius, holding up an invisible wine glass.

"After all this, they better look good." joked Remus.

"They better." said Sirius. "And I hope I don't wind up dancing with someone disgusting, like Fala Turbain or someone like that." Fala was a particularly ugly girl from Hufflepuff.

"Definitely." said the four in unison.

Later that night, everyone was walking to the Great Hall with their masks on. The girls looked marvelous. Some girls had their hair in elegant up-dos' with lots of curls and others let their hair down. Some girls looked stunning, in Sirius' opinion. They were wearing long gowns, some had sparkles and accents and other were plain. They were all different colors and patterns. The boys looked equally handsome with tuxedos and their black masks on. Some spiked their hair up with gel and others sleeked it back and looked quite handsome, like Sirius, Remus and surprisingly James had managed to do.

Lily, Delia, Lana and Ava all walked up the steps towards the Great Hall. They all looked stunning. Lily was wearing a stunning pale gold dress that had a halter with a plunging neck and back. She was fairly thin so she was able to pull the dress off well. She had a nice little clutch that matched the material of her dress. Her hair was up in a fancy bun with little curls hanging out here and there. Delia was also wearing a halter with a plunging neck and back dress, except hers was a beautiful ice blue that went magnificently with her eyes. Her long black hair was half-up-half-down with the up part in a little braid and the ends flipped up. Lana's lavender dress was gorgeous also. It was a strapless dress with little dark purple flowers on it. The back had little strings that criss-crossed across a low back. Her honey brown hair was pulled back into an elegant bun at the nape of her neck and her bangs were straightened and fell down across her eyes. Ava was also very stunning. She had on a white strapless dress with a pale green sheer layer over it. Her long blonde hair was up in an elegant ponytail, similar to Lily's, but with lots and lots of banana curls coming out. All together, the girls looked like a vision.

They walked into the Great Hall and looked around. "It's gorgeous!" said Ava. "You and Kevin must have been decorating this place all day!"

"The house-elves helped. He said that I could go get ready and that he would find some of his friends to help." said Lily, looking around. Everyone looked stunning and everyone had remembered to wear their masks. "Let's go dance."

"Alright." said Lana. They walked out to the dance floor and started to dance. They danced and danced. It appeared the boys didn't want to dance because most of them were sitting at tables looking at the girls. Then she noticed him. It was a boy that looked around her age. He was tall with jet black hair and hazel brown eyes. She didn't recognize him, his hair slick back and his tuxedo on.

"Alright people! This one is a lady's choice. So ladies, go get your partner." said the singer and the band started playing a slow romantic song. Lily decided that it was worth a shot with the boy.

"Excuse me." she said tapping him on the shoulder. "Do you wanna dance?"

James was so shocked to see those emerald green eyes looking into his. Lily Evans had asked him to dance. But, it appeared she didn't recognize him. _At least she's asking me to dance._ he thought. "Sure." he said a smile creeping across his face.

"Ok." said Lily. She thought he looked familiar. _Could it be? No, definitely not_. she thought. They walked out to the dance floor and started to dance. "Do I know you from somewhere?" she asked, looking into his eyes.

"Yea. I think you do." said James.

She looked over and saw Ava dancing with what looked like an extremely sophisticated Sirius Black. She mouthed the words "Is that Sirius?" to her and she mouthed "I think so." back at Lily, a smile spreading across her face. Lily was so happy for her friend. She knew that Ava was really keen about Sirius. The song ended and she and James broke apart.

"Do you want a drink?" asked James.

"Yea that would be nice." replied Lily.

"Ok. I'll be back." he said. James walked over to the table with the drinks on it and got two glasses of punch. He looked over at Lily. She looked gorgeous. Her gold dress brought out her skin tone and didn't clash horribly with her red hair. He though she looked perfect. He looked over by the opposite wall and he saw someone who looked a lot like Jared snogging someone who looked a lot like Delia. James shook his head with a little smile. _Jared will be Jared and Delia will be Delia._ he thought. "Here you go." he said handing her a glass.

"Thanks." she replied, taking a sip, looking over at the wall. She almost inhaled her drink and started to cough.

"Are you alright Li-" he started. but then he realized that he wasn't supposed to know who he was with.

Lily didn't catch his slip and replied, "Yea. I'm fine. Went down the wrong pipe." she said with a weak smile. The band started to play a fast song I love this song! Let's dance!" Lily placed her glass on the table and grabbed James' hand and brought him out to the dance floor. They danced to the first song and then they danced and danced. Finally another slow song came on. James pulled Lily close to him and put his hands around her waist. She draped her arms around her neck. "I know I know you. But, I just can't figure out who you are." she said looking into James' eyes.

"You'll find out eventually. But for now, you can call me JT." he said with a slight smile. He wasn't sure how Lily would react if she found out that it was him. He decided that she would never have to know. The last song was playing as the singer announced it.

"After this song is over, take your masks off!" A low murmur could be heard all through out the Great Hall. James was starting to get nervous again. He didn't want to tell Lily who he was.

"I'll be right back." he said. She nodded and went to sit at the table. James ran into the bathroom. _She cant see me looking like this when the song is over._ he thought. He ran his hand through his gelled hair and mussed it up. He changed the blue of his cufflinks and the blue of his buttons and turned them to a maroonish red. He took off his mask and wondered if he looked any different. He could hear the song ending and the singer telling everyone to take their masks off. He decided just to walk out of the bathroom without his mask. He walked around casually trying to find his friends and noticed Lily looking very sad and lonely. He couldn't leave her like this. He walked over to her and sat down in the chair across from her. "Is this seat taken?" he asked with a weak smile.

"Not anymore." she said on the brink of tears.

"What's the matter, Evans?" James asked.

"Nothing you would understand, Potter." she said as she wiped a tear from under her eye. She walked out of the Great Hall. He couldn't let her do this to herself.

"Evan's wait!" he called after her. She stopped but didn't turn around.

"What do you want now?" she asked. James could clearly see that she was now crying.

"I… well… I wanted to tell you that I am… well… I'm JT." he said, staring at the floor.

"Ha ha, very funny Potter." she said.

"No, Evans! I'm serious!" James replied, now looking her in the eyes.

"You expect me to believe you?" she asked.

"Yea. I do." he said.

"You disgust me, Potter." Lily said, tears more steadily flowing from her eyes. James went to follow her. "Stay the hell away from me! I'm warning you!" she said, now pulling her wand from inside her dress. "I'll hex you! I swear!" she said as she backed up the stairs. James didn't try to follow. She reached the top of the stairs and ran as fast as she could towards the Gryffindor common room. "Gil… Gil… Gil…" she tried to manage between gasps of air from being out of breath and in between hiccups from crying. The Fat Lady could see that she was near hysterics.

"Just go in, dear." she said as she swung open. She ran up into her room and collapsed onto her bed crying. She had been crying for about ten minutes before the other girls came up.

"Oh my God, Lily! What's the matter?" asked Delia running over to put an arm around her friend.

"I was d-dancing with this great guy, JT and then he went to the  
b-bathroom during the last song and he n-never came back. Then P-Potter said that he was JT and then I just… I…" she said as she started crying again.

"Lil… I'm so sorry." said Ava as she came over and put her hand on Lily's shoulder and kissed the top of her head. "It'll be alright."

Delia lowered herself so that she was kneeling on the ground. She took Lily's chin in her hand. "Look at me, Lil." she said as Lily continued to avoid her gaze. "Lily Adele Evans, look at me." At the mention of her middle name, Lily looked at Delia. "Don't let Potter get you down. He's an arrogant toerag and naturally he'd tell you that to make you think that you were having a great time with him. He's a Potter and his ass is mine tomorrow morning." Delia said with a smile.

"Thank you." Lily said as she hugged Delia. Ava and Lana joined in and soon all four were in a giant group hug.

"Now. Let's get you out of that gorgeous gown so that you can wear it again." said Lana. They all changed into their pajamas and sat up on their beds and talked while Lily and Lana were reading too.

Meanwhile, down in the boy's dorm, James was sitting on the edge of his bed with his head in his hands. "I knew I shouldn't have told her." he said looking up, his eyes clearly red from crying.

"You couldn't see her like that, mate. You did the right thing." said Sirius, who was lying down on his bed, his hands under his head.

"Are you sure?" James asked. "Well besides the fact that she definitely won't talk to me for the next month -"

"Or two." Sirius added.

"Not helping." James said, glaring at him.

"Sorry." Sirius said, looking back up at the ceiling.

"Look, we're really sorry, mate." said Remus who was sitting upright in his bed. "Truly, we are. We can only imagine how much pain you are in now."

"Yea, well, it's over now." said James. He quickly changed into his pajamas, which consisted of an extra-large tee-shirt that said "Liverpool Quidditch Camp" on it in orange and yellow letters and black flannel pants. "I'm going to sleep."

"Night." Remus and Sirius said as they changed into their pajamas and also went to bad.


End file.
